Hagestad leads amateur contingent

Stewart Hagestad qualified for his first Masters Tournament by winning the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur. But the 25-year-old Southern Cal graduate did a pretty good impression of some of golf’s young guns in his first competitive round at Augusta National on Thursday.

Hagestad turned in the best round of the five amateurs competing in the 81st Masters Tournament with 2-over-par 74. He sits in a tie for 26th.

The Mid-Am is known as the best way for older amateur golfers (you must be 25 to enter) to punch their ticket to Augusta, but Hagestad doesn’t see himself as over the hill quite yet.

“I’m 25 and I’m hitting it 310 yards,” he said. “Not to throw a bunch of other mids under the bus, because I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. But with the family and other obligations like work and everything those guys have to put up with, I’m in a very unique spot that I have the opportunity to play. I still feel like I’m playing my best.”

Hagestad took time off from his job as a financial analyst in New York to prepare for his first Masters appearance. He was 1-over on each nine, with birdies on No. 2 and No. 13. He made a tremendous two-putt to save par from 84 feet on the 18th hole.

“The first two or three holes, there were some nerves there for sure,” Hagestad said. “And as I kind of got into the rhythm of the round and started kind of focusing on the things I could control, even though I didn’t hit it my best, I scored really, really nicely. It was a blast.”

Curtis Luck, the 20-year-old Australian who qualified in two ways by winning the U.S. Amateur as well as the Asia-Pacific Amateur title, came into the tournament as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world. Luck wasn’t pleased with his game after shooting 78.

“It was very rough,” Luck said. “My ball striking wasn’t good and in conditions like this – it’s very penal. I just have to wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow, go out and get the job done so I’ll be here on the weekend.”

Brad Dalke, the University of Oklahoma sophomore who qualified as the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur, also shot 6-over-par 78.

He settled down after going 4-over in his first four holes, including a double bogey at the par-3 fourth.

“Making that good par on No. 5 and then getting up and down definitely helped,” said Dalke, 19. “I really only felt nervous on the first two holes. Around No. 3 I started feeling better and doing better.”

Dalke is soaking up the entire Masters experience by staying in the Crow’s Nest.

“It’s something that a lot of people don’t get to experience,” he said. “Just playing as an amateur, I can feel the crowd kind of rooting for me. To be able to stay in the Crow’s Nest, staying on the property … It’s just kind of the magic of the whole place.”

Toto Gana, 19, of Chile, who qualified for his first Masters as the Latin America Amateur champion, shot 81. England’s Scott Gregory, 22, the British Amateur champion, shot 82.